seafloor spreading

Role of the Spreading Center

In 1962 Hess proposed that the seafloor was created at mid-ocean ridges, spreading in both directions from the ridge system. At the spreading center, liquid rock called basaltic magma rises from the earth's mantle as it upwells beneath the spreading axis. When the magma hardens, it forms new oceanic crust that becomes welded to the original crust. Spreading is believed to be caused by far-field stresses, and the upwelling of the mantle beneath the spreading axis is the passive response to plate separation. The oceanic trenches bordering the continents mark regions where the oldest oceanic crust is reabsorbed into the mantle through steeply inclined, earthquake-prone subduction zones. The pull of the deeply plunging lithosphere is one of the forces that may drive plate separation.